


old stars and new constellations

by gravitea



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Atlas CEO Rhys, Fluff, M/M, but really it's just them being cute and snuggly in bed, seriously that's it that's the fic, set vaguely post canon, there's some kissing too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 17:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17791466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitea/pseuds/gravitea
Summary: Rhys takes the day off work to spend some quality one-on-one time with Tim. Fluff, cuddles, and kisses ensue.





	old stars and new constellations

**Author's Note:**

> Happy valentine’s day! Please enjoy the first piece of disgustingly sweet fluff I’ve written in my life. :D
> 
> Set vaguely post-canon/slight AU I guess, but the details don't matter all that much for this.

 

 

 

Sunlight spilled across the bed, a waterfall of cozy warmth that made Rhys want to sink back under the covers and stay there forever. Not that they _had_ to get up—Rhys had cleared his schedule, tied up any loose ends, and signed over control to Yvette for the day before setting all his official channels to do not disturb.

Still. They probably should at some point, even if it was just to grab something to eat.

A soft, sleepy mumble pulled Rhys from his thoughts, and he glanced over to take in a tangle of brown hair and the soft curves of a freckled neck and shoulder peeking out from beneath the white bedding. Smiling, Rhys stretched out his left hand to gently run a finger over Tim’s sun-warmed shoulder, drawing a line down from the top, then swooping back up over his neck and into his hairline. He was rewarded with a contented sigh as Tim leaned back into his touch.

Encouraged, Rhys let his hand wander up into Tim’s hair, gently tangling his fingers through it. It was still mostly brown, but over the years more auburn had crept in, along with the peppering of gray at his temples. When Rhys had first met Tim he’d kept it short—too short to play with—but over time he’d let it grow some. Enough that Rhys could work his fingers into it and pull gently at the strands.

It wasn't until Rhys pulled his hand away that Tim stirred again and mumbled something into his pillow.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the pillow isn’t listening,” Rhys said. “ _I’m_ right here though, if you want to talk.”

That earned Rhys a snarky reply, still muffled by the pillow Tim was hiding his face in. Rhys didn’t even bother to smother his grin. There was something adorable about Tim when he was like this—sun drunk and sleepy. An unguarded honesty that bled into his waking hours more and more. It made Rhys’ heart do the kinds of things they sang cheesy pop songs about and he couldn’t even find it in himself to care. He felt like a teenager, falling in love for the first time all over again.

The mountain of mashmallowy pillows and comforters twitched. A muffled sigh escaped the pile.

“Rhys? What time is it,” Tim asked, voice hoarse from sleep. “Thought you had that important…meeting thing today.” He craned his neck to squint over his shoulder, concern dislodging some of the drowsiness. “Did something happen?”

“Everything's fine,” Rhys assured him. “I just called Yvette and took the day off. I thought maybe we could spend the day in, just the two of us? Things have been pretty crazy lately with—well, with _everything_ , I guess. I thought it’d be nice to have some time together.”

It'd been almost two weeks since they’d had any real alone time, between Rhys’ increasingly demanding obligations with Atlas, and Tim’s decision to accompany Fiona and Sasha on their most recent trip out to the Dust. There was a balancing act to it all, and they were still working out the hiccups. Unfortunately.

Rhys was pretty sure it was going to kill him if they didn’t figure out a better solution soon. Work activities became increasingly difficult to focus on when all he could think about were all the _other_ activities he wanted to be doing here, with Tim. Preferably the kind that didn't involve clothes and ended with them tangled up together in Rhys’ king sized bed.

“You can do that?” Tim raised an eyebrow, amusement playing across his face.

Rhys gave a lock of Tim’s hair a gentle tug. “I’m the boss, I can do whatever I want. And what I _want_ is to spend time with you.”

“Right.” Tim snorted and dropped his head back to the pillow. Rhys didn't miss the redness creeping up the back of his neck, though. He took that as a challenge, and pressed himself closer against Tim’s back. Slowly, he teased a foot up the back of Tim’s leg, grinning when he felt the other man shiver.

“But if you’re not up for it, I can go,” Rhys said. “I’ve got tons of work sitting back on my desk, and I bet it’s not too late to reschedule that ECHOnet conference. I can call Yvette back and—”

“Mmn, hey—I didn’t say _that_.” A soft laugh. Then, “Anyway, s’nice to see you again. It was okay hanging out with the girls for a while but I’m getting too old to camp out like that. Also hot water is fucking amazing and I would really, really like that to be an everyday thing again, _god_.”

“Careful,” Rhys teased, “you’ll get spoiled, living in the lap of luxury like this. What with all these extravagant amenities like hot water, and real beds, and food you don't have to chase down and kill before you can eat it. Or before it eats _you_.” He wrinkled his nose at that last bit.

Tim chuckled. “Yeah, and I wonder whose fault _that_ is.”

“I'm pretty sure that's not a bad thing,” Rhys answered. “You’re my boyfriend—I want to spoil you. I’d be spoiling you even _more_ if you’d stop being so damn stubborn about it every time I try. Seriously.” Rhys’ bottom lip jutted out in a pout he knew Tim couldn't see. He considered prodding him again, just to get him to look up and see if that pout had the effect he wanted. It didn't usually work as well on Tim as it did on some people, but he'd gotten lucky before.

Eventually, he discarded the idea in favor of letting his hand wander lower, tracing over the definition of Tim’s shoulders and back, before hesitating at his side, just below his ribs. Rhys tickled at the bare skin there, and almost immediately a warm, calloused hand twitched up to grab his own, pinning it down. The fact that his badass vault hunter boyfriend was _ticklish_ never ceased to amuse Rhys, something he occasionally couldn’t help but exploit. It was almost as cute as how often he blushed (something that Rhys might've enjoyed more if he hadn't been just as vulnerable in that particular area).

Tim pointedly ignored Rhys' attempts to get a reaction out of him and said, “Mm, you spoil me enough, Rhys. I'm fine."

Personally, Rhys disagreed, but he rolled his eyes and let the topic slide. It would come up again, eventually, but there was no point in souring the morning with that conversation. Besides, there were other things Rhys could offer Tim that he knew would be met with enthusiastic approval and a notable lack of argument.

Eventually, they lapsed into silence and Rhys took the opportunity to let his eyes roam over the contours of Tim’s neck and shoulder. This close, the dusting of freckles resolved into individual dots, like paint splatters left behind by an artist’s brush. Some were darker, some so light they nearly disappeared against his tan skin. They were also one of the few things about his body Tim thoroughly delighted in, which meant Rhys always paid them special attention.

Tim had come a long way, and grown more comfortable in his skin (because it _was_ his now, for better or worse), but progress and healing weren’t linear paths. These things took time.

Rhys was willing to wait. He could be patient, despite what most people thought. He _would_ be, for someone who was worth that and more.

It almost ached, the chord it struck in Rhys’ chest when he thought about this. Them, together. The future. _Their_ future. It thrummed in his chest like the last note of a song, pure and good and _right_ in a way that didn’t even seem possible.

Rhys leaned closer and buried his face in the crook of Tim’s neck. Breathed in the familiar smell of sun and salt and dust, before pulling back and planting a row of gentle kisses from Tim’s shoulder all the way up to his hairline. Rhys imagined tracing lines, mapping constellations of those stars, something uncharted and new.

Tim made soft, approving noises as Rhys continued the attention. It took a while to reach the end of his path, because he made sure to take his time. Rhys' final kiss dropped feather-light against the underside of Tim’s jaw. It was scratchy with fresh stubble, and his pulse raced beneath his skin. Rhys could feel the rise and fall of Tim's chest, the small stutter and hitch, like he was on the verge of saying something.

He didn’t. Just rolled onto his back and looked up at Rhys with a lopsided grin and a blush painted across his cheeks. Emboldened, Rhys laid a few more increasingly enthusiastic kisses on Tim’s jaw, the sharp cut of his cheekbones, his forehead, the bridge of his nose, and finally his lips before pulling back, feeling heat burning across his own skin now too.

Rhys was fifty miles high, looking down on a world filled with potential. Something bright and shining un-spooled ahead of him like a glowing filament, flung from here to the ends of the universe.

“So. The whole day, huh,” Tim said, after a few seconds had passed with both of them lost to the moment and hazy warmth of the morning. “Have anything in particular you wanna do?”

“Oh, I can think of something you'll probably enjoy.” Rhys waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Tim snorted. "I know _I_ will."

Tim’s smile returned. Then he was rolling over, draping himself across Rhys until they were a tangle of limbs and sun-washed skin and breathy laughter. When Tim finally pulled him into a deep kiss, Rhys swore he could see the future laid out before them. It left him dizzy with a sense of vertigo and lighter than he'd been in years.

He saw a sky filled with old stars and new constellations, theirs to chart together.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first time writing for this fandom and this pairing, so I hope I did it justice!


End file.
